Teachers Are the Center of Education: - New Teacher Center

Rebecca Costello
Berryessa Union School District
San Jose, California
New Teacher Center in Partnership with the District Since: 2000
Participating Schools (2009-10): 8
Mentors (2009-10): 4
Mentees (2009-10): 46
Editor’s Note: The following presents an example of the kinds of topics covered in one 50-minute
conversation between mentor and mentee. In this session, they made plans that would impact
more than two weeks of instruction. After the session, E returned to her class while Costello left
for her next working session with a different mentee and a new slate of topics.
Rebecca Costello is in her third year as a mentor in the Berryessa School District in San Jose,
California. One of her mentees is E, a second year eighth-grade middle school science teacher.
On this Tuesday in late February, Costello arrives at E’s classroom at 8:15 a.m. for the second
of their two weekly 50-minute meetings. This conversation is fairly typical of their exchanges; it
focuses on the events of the classroom. Costello explains that she says to her mentees, “’Tell
me what you’re doing in the classroom and let’s really talk about what’s happening and how it’s
going to impact you as a teacher and your students.’ That’s the important part.”
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Costello and E begin by discussing how best to use E’s classroom tests to help guide her
teaching. NTC stresses the importance of using data to make decisions about students, a part of